Windsor ‘in for a good time’
Pro wrestling to be part of Hants County Exhibition for first time in 32 years
A Hants County pro wrestler will face a tall challenge as he prepares for a historic show at the exhibition in Windsor.
Cogmagun native Cody Brown, a.k.a. Lil’ Blay, and Wrestling in Windsor will present a show as an official part of the 258th Hants County Exhibition during the afternoon of Sept. 24.
This will be the first time in 32 years that pro wrestling is part of the lineup at North America’s oldest agricultural exhibition. The show will be held in the Mary Henry EquiCentre Arena, with the opening bell at 2:30 p.m.
Before this happens, Brown will wrestle as part of a special attraction match at the finals of Canadian wrestling icon Jacques Rougeau’s Lutte Académie (Wrestling Academy).
Rougeau is bringing Brown and his tag-team partner in The Mutiny, Ryan Fortin, perhaps better known to fans as the nearly seven-foot-tall Giant Orion, back to Montreal for the finals.
“You aren’t going to find more chemistry,” Brown said about The Mutiny.
Both were eliminated from Lutte Académie following their respective quarter-final matches in June. Lutte Académie is a national competition initiated by Rougeau. The 2023 finals will be held at
Club Soda on Sept. 17.
Three finalists, two male and one female, will receive a $10,000 prize and three months’ training at the Nightmare Factory in Atlanta, Georgia. Trainers there include All Elite Wrestling (AEW) star Q.T. Marshall, wrestling legend (Daddy Ass) Billy Gunn and WWE superstar Cody Rhodes.
Although Brown and Fortin are now out of the running for the prize money and Atlanta training, Rougeau said that he wants to give both the opportunity to wrestle in front of Marshall, a vice president of AEW and a judge in the competition. Rougeau said he envisions Brown and Fortin will put on a great match.
Marshall will also wrestle on the show, having chosen to defend his AAA Latin American Championship against (The Lion Warrior) Bobby Sharp.
WRESTLING HIS ‘BEST FRIEND’
Brown said he looks forward to the match against Fortin in Montreal. He said he knew Fortin was “going to be great”
the day he met him, and he wanted to be his best friend.
Brown said they were both part of Monster Pro Wrestling in Edmonton, Alta., training under Massive Damage. They went on to work and train together in Mexico, sharing an apartment before moving into the dojo and sleeping in bunk beds. They then returned to Edmonton, sharing an apartment there, and they recently travelled to Florida together.
Brown said he figured that Fortin would have been among the Lutte Académie finalists. He said he considers Fortin not only a rarely gifted physical specimen, but also “a genius.”
Brown said his only other match at Lutte Académie to date, his quarter-final in June, was much talked about as a “match of the night.” He said he plans to do the exact same thing this time.
“Only this time, instead of wrestling a 20-year veteran (Michael Richard Blais), I’m going to be wrestling my best friend,” Brown said.
Fortin, who now lives in Moncton, N.B., is the King of the Cage Canadian Heavyweight Mixed Martial Arts Champion and head trainer at the Maritime Wrestling Academy.
The 305-pounder said having the opportunity to wrestle in Montreal as part of the Lutte Académie competition was huge, especially considering that Rougeau and Marshall were watching.
“It was a great way to show the right people what I’m capable of bringing to the table,” Fortin said.
Fortin said the fact that he and Brown know each other’s in-ring styles so well will lead to a great match at the Lutte Académie finals. He’s certain that they’ll be able to “steal the show in Montreal that night.”
The two have spent a lot of time training with each other in many different scenarios,
certain helping each other refine points of their respective games.
He said they have fantastic chemistry, having trained, lived, and travelled together. Fortin said Brown is fast, technical, and “capable of some crazy high-flying moves.”
“It compliments my power,
Between and presence, so well. the two of us, we have strength, speed, athleticism, charisma, high-flying, and two different sets of technical abilities, creating a very dangerous team,” Fortin said.
WRESTLING AT THE EX
Brown, who made his AEW debut in Regina, Sask., in July, said it’s great to be part of the Hants County community and to be able to bring new wrestling experiences to Windsor area fans.
He said the exhibition show presents a great opportunity to attract new fans to the Wrestling in Windsor promotion, and a chance to draw more people to the exhibition.
The show carries special meaning for Brown. He said his dad, Adam, and all his brothers used to work at the ex. Brown’s first job was there, parking cars for six years straight. He said it’s interesting how everything has evolved since, and now he’s an official part of the entertainment lineup.
“It’s a pretty cool feeling to look at where we started and where we are now,” Brown said.
Brown said he looks forward to settling a score at the “Psycho Circus” show at the exhibition, as Lil’ Blay takes on Justin Newhook of Sabotage, “after all of his running and dodging.”
At the conclusion of the May 20 Wrestling in Windsor II show, fans were shocked to see the members of Sabotage, Newhook and Matt Connors, turn against Brown, attacking him in the ring.
This prompted Brown’s partner, Fortin, to intervene. Brown challenged Sabotage to face The Mutiny in a Windsor
Street Fight in the main event on Aug. 26, and Sabotage quickly accepted.
However, members of Sabotage were unable to make it to Windsor on Aug. 26 and were replaced by The King J.P. Simms and Narcis Saint in the street fight.
Other competitors scheduled to appear at the Sept. 24 show include 2023 Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame inductee Lincoln Steen, a native of Enfield, Hants County; Simms, Saint, Nova Scotia Open Weight Champion Moondog Dylan Davis, WWE alumnus Highlander Robbie MacAllister and many more.
Brown plans to return to Mexico about a week after the exhibition show. Fortin won’t be able to make the Sept. 24 show due to a scheduling conflict, but said he had a lot of fun competing in the first Windsor Street Fight match on Aug. 26.
The Wrestling in Windsor III show drew more than 350 fans — the most to attend a live wrestling event in Windsor in at least 35 years.
When he debuted in Windsor, Fortin was an immediate hit with Hants County wrestling fans. He said he finds the fans in Windsor to be very respectful and it’s always a pleasure to work in front of them.
“The crowd in Windsor is one of the hottest in the Maritimes,” Fortin said. “Every time wrestling goes to Windsor, it always impresses me with the fans’ interaction and fearlessness to have a good time.”